Dark Harbor

Chapter 22

DINO WAS FUMING as they drove away from the cabinet shop. “Jesus, I’m glad you’re not a cop anymore. You’ve gone all squishy soft. We might have gotten something out of him.”

“No, we wouldn’t,” Stone said. “He was trying to be cooperative, against his better instincts, and I didn’t want to piss him off.”

“Why the hell should you care if you piss him off?”

“Because it’s a small island, and I might need some cabinet work done someday. And because we need him.”

“What, that business about breaking into Dick’s house?”

“You know anybody more qualified?”

“Now that you mentioned it, no,” Dino replied, settling down a little. “Of course, it’s a perfect opportunity for him to case the place in preparation for a later visit, maybe in the winter, when you’re not here.”

“No, Rhinehart has too much to lose. He’s got a new life now and, apparently, a good one. He’s not going to piss in his own well.”

“Oh, all right,” Dino said. “I never could talk to you when you get this way.”

RHINEHART SHOWED UP at six, when Stone and Dino were having a drink in the study.

“Would you like a drink, Hal?”

“Thanks, no. I’d better get started. I’m going to go outside, and I want you to go through the house and make sure that every window and door is closed and locked, then turn on the alarm system.” He turned and left.

“You take the upstairs,” Stone said to Dino, then headed for the kitchen. He went around the ground floor, checking and locking windows and doors, then went to the front door, tapped in the alarm code, then back to the study and his drink. Dino was already there. He had barely sat down when he looked up to see Hal Rhinehart standing in the doorway.

“How the hell did you get in?” Dino asked.

“Upstairs bathroom window on the south side,” Rhinehart said.

“What are you, a human fly?”

“No, the climbing part was easy; there was a ladder leaning against the house.”

Stone looked at Dino. “I believe that was one of your windows,” he said. “You want to go close it and double-check the others?”

Dino got up and stalked from the room.

Rhinehart crooked a finger. “Come here, I want to show you something.” He led Stone to the keypad by the front door, then opened the door. “Tap in the code,” he said, looking away.

Stone tapped in the code.

“Now look at the little screen on the keypad. What does it say?”

Stone peered at the screen. “Front door open,” he said.

“Before, it would have said ”Upstairs bathroom window open.“ And the alarm won’t arm if there’s something open. The house has to be sealed tight.”

Dino came back downstairs. “All right, everything’s closed.”

“I’m going outside again,” Rhinehart said. “Arm the alarm.”

Stone did so, then returned to the study with Dino. They had finished their drinks when the front doorbell rang. He went and let Rhinehart in. “Will you have a drink now?”

“Yes, thanks. Scotch, if you have it.”

Stone poured them all another one, and they sat down in front of the fireplace.

“I couldn’t get in,” Rhinehart said. “Not without taking a chainsaw to a wall, anyway. This is the most secure family home I’ve ever been in, and I’ve been in a lot of them. The front door is steel, sheathed in mahogany; the windows are steel and the glass armored; and there are no gaps in the installation-every door and window is alarmed.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Stone said.

“What the hell was Dick expecting?” Rhinehart asked. “He must have spent fifty thousand dollars on security.”

“Dick worked for the State Department,” Stone said. “I think they had the work done.”

“State Department? More like the CIA or NSA,” Rhinehart said. “I doubt if the Secretary of State has this much hard-wired security.”

Stone shrugged.

“The problem, though, is the same as with any two-thousand-dollar installation: You leave a window cracked or just forget to arm the system, and all this security is useless.”

Stone nodded. “You have a point.”

“Is that what happened? Did Dick screw up and not arm the system?”

“Either that, or he let somebody in,” Stone said.

“The locks are something special, too. They’re Swedish, and they use a key that has magnetic points built into it as well as tumblers. I couldn’t pick one of them, and I’m pretty good.”

“I’ll bet you are,” Dino said.

“Hal,” Stone said, “do you have any theories about how or why Dick died?”

“Was anything taken from the house?”

“No.”

“You mean, nothing that you knew about was gone, but then, had you ever set foot in the place before Dick was killed?”

“No, and I wouldn’t have known what he had here. The caretaker and his wife would have known, though, especially the wife, since she cleans the place every day. The only thing she noticed amiss was that a vacuum cleaner was left by that door over there.” He pointed at the door to the terrace.

“So the killer cleaned up after himself.”

“It appears so, and he took the vacuum bag with him.”

“Did the alarm go off?”

“No;”

“Then it wasn’t armed, unless the killer had the code. What time of night did it happen?”

“Some time after midnight, according to the state police.”

“Anybody see anybody come or go?”

“No.”

“Nobody moves on this island after ten o’clock. It would be noticed if somebody was driving around. Maybe the guy came by boat.”

“That’s a good guess,” Stone said.

“You don’t think it was a local?”

“Do you?”

“Nah; everybody liked Dick. I mean, there are some folks on this island I wouldn’t trust with a gun after a few drinks, but nobody had anything against Dick; word would have gotten around. From what I read in the papers about the inquest, it sure sounds like a pro hit, doesn’t it?”

“More and more,” Stone said. “But I’d appreciate it if you’d keep that notion to yourself. I wouldn’t want the folks to start worrying about hitmen stalking their island.”

Rhinehart tossed off the rest of his drink and stood up. “I’ve got to get home for supper.”

Stone walked him to the door and thanked him for coming, then returned to the study.

“This case sure is a pisser, ain’t it?” Dino asked.

“It sure is.”